Dispatches from the space race

Road bypasses boost home values by 15-30%

Want the value of your house to increase? Then start lobbying your local council to build a bypass.

According to research by Savills this will add 15% on average to the value of a property in the town or village that benefits, and boost local house prices by as much as 30%.

A6 Bypass

They’ve discovered this by comparing house prices in 24 locations before and after the construction of a bypass.

Apparently the uplift in value occurs very soon after construction – properties bought and resold within two years before and after the opening of a bypass showed an almost immediate average 13.8% boost to values.

However, prices later revert to behaving in line with average price movements within their region. The bypass uplift varies significantly according to location, but the biggest hike in prices that they could find was in Rothwell, Northamptonshire.

Thanks to the construction of the A6 bypass house prices there rose by 30%.

What’s that you say? Shouldn’t these homeowners be taxed in order to help pay for our road network? We couldn’t possibly comment …